Embattled coaches show honor in their delusion

University of Texas head coach Mack Brown, right, and University of Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich attend a press conference for the 2013 Alamo Bowl at the Club at Sonterra, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013.

University of Texas head coach Mack Brown, right, and University of Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich attend a press conference for the 2013 Alamo Bowl at the Club at Sonterra, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013.

Photo: San Antonio Express-News

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Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan watches the action on the field during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Landover, Md., Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan watches the action on the field during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Landover, Md., Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013.

With that in mind, I present you with the strange case of coach Mack Brown of the University of Texas. Brown likely will be unemployed soon, but you couldn't tell it from listening to him for the last three days.

Like beleaguered Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, he is planning for next season. Like the Knicks' Mike Woodson, he is confident he can fix what's wrong with the team.

And none of those guys are lying. In their eyes, they're being honorable by being loyal and doing what they were paid to do, all the way and up until the moment they have to clean out their desks.

Orgeron didn't hold a news conference. He didn't tender a resignation that would take effect after USC's Las Vegas Bowl game to help the school and say goodbye to the boys.

He just up and quit.

If I were Brown and heard the rumors while on the recruiting trail, I would have gone full Orgeron on the spot.

Instead of extolling UT's virtues, I would've given the kids the cellphone numbers to Kevin Sumlin, Art Briles and Kliff Kingsbury. Then I would have stood up, dropped the microphone and walked out.

But Brown is not that kind of guy. By all accounts, he's a true gentleman.

Hoping against all hope, he sat there at the dais Thursday, while everyone knew his pink slip was waiting in Austin, talking about the upcoming bowl.

Brown isn't fooling anyone, least of all himself. But that's how his head is wired.

Based on Orgeron's flameout, his next gig will be at a tiny North Dakota high school that's gone winless the last four seasons and where players change clothes on the bus.

Brown, on the other hand, might never coach again, but at least he's going out as a Longhorn and a gentleman.

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Faith lifts us up. It's what keeps many of us showing up at church on perfectly good Sunday mornings when we could be outside golfing or inside sleeping.

Then there's delusion, which serves no purpose other than to allow the delusional party to wake up and grind out another day. They say things that only they believe.

With that in mind, I present you with the strange case of coach Mack Brown of the University of Texas. Brown likely will be unemployed soon, but you couldn't tell it from listening to him for the last three days.

Like beleaguered Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, he is planning for next season. Like the Knicks' Mike Woodson, he is confident he can fix what's wrong with the team.

And none of those guys are lying. In their eyes, they're being honorable by being loyal and doing what they were paid to do, all the way and up until the moment they have to clean out their desks.

Unnamed UT sources say Brown is a goner after three consecutive less-than-stellar seasons.

Longhorn fans are anxiously waiting for the next shoe to drop, possibly Friday night at the team's banquet.

But if Brown, on whom that shoe will drop, felt any heat, he didn't show it at the Valero Alamo Bowl news conference Thursday.

He opened up with a nod to reality.

“There has been a little speculation about my job situation this week, if you hadn't noticed,” Brown said. “But we're not here to talk about me.”

And that was that, except for his plans to meet with athletic director Steve Patterson and university president Bill Powers about the program's future.

I felt bad for Brown, and I'm an Aggie. I couldn't tell if he knew he was Dead Coach Walking or whether he thought he could pull off a last-second win.

Brown's demeanor is a lot different than Ed Orgeron, who took over as interim Southern Cal coach when Lane Kiffin was fired.

Orgeron, who talks like Farmer Fran, the gibberish-spewing Cajun assistant coach in “The Waterboy,” led the Trojans to a 6-2 finish.

He wanted the job on a permanent basis. The school instead hired Washington's Steve Sarkisian, with the thought Orgeron would get more money and help recruit.